Hope Will Put The Colors In The Sky
by StGroffchele
Summary: An unforeseen mishap reveals some unexpected sparks between Jesse and Rachel that they both thought were long dead.
1. Picking Up Pieces

Despite how many movie premiers that Jesse had been to since his debut on Broadway, the bright lights, the glamour, and obviously the attention never failed to amaze him. He loved being in the center of everybody's attention, he loved the black dots that lingered in his eyes from the camera flashes, and God, he even loved the damn paparazzi. He loved getting dressed up in designer suits and being interviewed, he loved the red carpet, he loved being surrounded by countless numbers of stars that were even more well known than he was. However, while going to such events alone was all good and fine, there was one thing that made the whole endeavor all the more enjoyable, and that was attending with his best friend Rachel.  
>Ever since they starred in Spring Awakening together, their names were often seen as a package deal. Despite how many times they had to say it, many media sources claimed that they were hooking up behind the scenes of the musical. Sure, perhaps 6 months ago, the case may have been different, but the couple had split up what seemed like forever ago. However, even though he knew that questions regarding their nonexistent relationship were inevitable, Jesse wasn't going to let the petty media snobs ruin the experience of attending a movie premier with Rachel.<br>...That is, if they could /get/ to the premier. Dressed in a suave tux and his hair style on point, Jesse sat on the couch in his condo, clearly annoyed, sighing loudly. After several minutes, he went to the bathroom door, knocked, and said with an irritated tone of voice,  
>"Rachel, I told/ you not to drink all that goddamn Pepsi! We are going to be late. We are practically already late. I am going to leave your pissing-ass here if you don't hurry up in there. You're gonna flood my house with urine at this rate." he said with a sigh

Once she heard that both her and Jesse were invited to a movie premier, she jumped at the opportunity and didn't wait for them to reply to her message that insisted that they were both free although her and the glee club had a meeting that next day, for Sectionals, she didn't care. This was a big opportunity for the both of them and if anybody dared told her that she had to decline the offer. She'd throw an Diva fit.

It had been exactly almost a whole six months since their break-up, Rachel still found it at times awkward and uncomfortable to be in the same room with her best friend, former boyfriend and she didn't want to feel that way but there was a tiny part inside of her that had a tiny bit of a crush on him, considering his recent exercise routine that had his body more tone and muscular. Often, Rachel was found oggling the young male while he was stretching during rehearsals when his shirt pulled up or the smallest detail like when he held onto her during an performance when he would look into her eyes while saying his lines.

Hearing his voice from outside the door had the brunette jump three feet in the air for though she thought he had caught her thinking about him, but he wouldn't know any of that because he wasn't in her mind, right? Running the water for a bit longer, Rachel looked into the mirror with a look that could kill if anyone was inside the mirror. It was a look that could easily say that she was done with someones bullshit or simply that she was game on this attempt to embarrass her.

"No matter what happens tonight, you are Rachel Berry and you look beautiful no matter who talks crap about you, and makes you feel like you're not good enough. Because you Rachel Barbra Berry are worth it and you are good enough. Don't let what others say about your life ruin your mood." Rachel spoke to herself through the mirror as she put on one last coat of red lipstick, hiking up her dress as she pushed open the door to look at Jesse with a small smile. "I'm ready"

It was undeniable, that both the brown haired boy and girl had chemistry, and not a soul ever tried to deny that. However, what nobody truly knew, was that though Jesse's feelings for Rachel dimmed, they never went out. If time were controlled by him alone, he would go back and take everything that happened in High School back from the universe and simply start anew. If it meant compromising Carmel High's victory, so be it. There was always a lingering feeling of guilt that lingered in his heart, but he would be damned if even a single person knew that.

As he stood outside of the door, leaning against the wall, his head leaning backward, he could hear Rachel's little self-motivation speech, and that made him smile softly, looking down at the ground. When the young lady opened the door, he looked down at her, reciprocating the smile, not saying a word. He couldnt just say she was beautiful, that was so...flirtatious. There was nothing between them. For once, he had to force himself to think of somebody other than himself, for he knew Rachel was done with him, and would never go back. Whether he was to move on was his decision and his alone.

Snapping out of his gaze on the girl's silver high-split dress that made her caramel legs peek out with every step, he looked up at her, put on a casual, cheery expression and said,

"Alright, you ready? Now maybe we can get there before Doris Day keels over." he said with a teasing smirk as he opened the door, car keys in hand.

No compliment, or anything? She normally never looked as good as she did now, and to have him skip over even just a nod of his head in approval of her choice of dress was like a slap in the face, and she wasn't the least bit happy about it. It was not only disrespectful but unhuman like of ANY male to not even compliment a young woman like herself. Jesse sure had some guts to pull that one on her, and if they weren't already late to the premier, she would have been tackled the male to the ground and demanded him to tell her she's pretty.

"Hurry up, you're going to make us more late and if we don't leave right now, my fans aren't going to be happy and they're going to want to track you down and feed you to the flames that I made from lighting your Catherine Zeta Jones postered that you had signed a couple years ago. Don't mess with me or you will regret it St. James." the brunette's nose twitched which meant that she was totally lying but the only person who would know that was her ex girlfriend Quinn whom didn't talk to her at all besides at the local supermarket.

Even if she hadn't been joking about lighting up his prized possession, it would be total payback from when they had dated back in high school and the young male had not only used her to put her whole glee club in a funk, but had his glee club throw eggs at her as well. He had finished it off by smashing it in her hair and he had yet to receive her forgiveness over it due to getting flashbacks as well as nightmares every now and then. Also, she couldn't go near the dairy section at the store without seeing a carton of eggs without seeing him with an evil smirk on his face as he broke the shell in her hair.

Although she was still mad at him for doing that to her and it had been years since the event had happened, Rachel knew that he was sorry for it and he regretted it each and every day.

He could see it in the brunette's eyes that refraining from comment had hurt the girl, and though hurting the girl was honestly the last thing he wanted to do to her, he refrained once more. Making a somewhat exaggerated gasp and a look of utter terror, he said, "You would not. You do that, and all of your Barbra Streisand albums will be Barbra Streiashes.".

Hopping into his grey Subaru Legacy, he patted the seat next to him, a light smile on his face. "Luckily we get to leave in a Limo." he said to her in an attempt to lighten the dreary mood. He gripped his steering wheel, feeling undeniably guilty for not giving the girl sitting next to him the compliment she very well deserved. Despite Jesse's stone-cold demeanor, he truly did have a soft hear when it came to the people he cared about. Even if Rachel and his' relations were strictly friendly, he couldnt help but care for her deeply.

Midway through the drive, he decided to turn on the radio, clicking through his go-to stations, until a familiar tune hummed through his speakers. It wasn't. It couldnt be. What were the chances?

After a piano solo, Leonel Richie's silk smooth vocals filled the car, and the legendary "Hello" being played. Jesse didn't mean to, but he grinned ear to ear with memories of high school, and the best of it, meeting Rachel being one of the triumphs.


	2. Breakdown

Crossing her arms a crossed her chest, Rachel tucked her dress in so that it fit properly in the car, not even wanting to be in the car with him at the moment or for this matter, ever. Usually she would have laughed with him and joked along with him on how much of a diva she had been acting but today was a big deal for the both of them, it was thee night that could make or break their whole career and she couldn't ruin this, which was why she had been worrying about her attire.

When she woke up the morning, getting a message from her manager informing her that she had an interview and a movie premier that day was not what she had expected and she wasn't looking forward to it, but she dove into her work early in the morning for the radio show interview, and then she had two hours later the movie premier. Which meant she had thirty minutes to nap before then and needless to say, she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

Although the song that had began her and Jesse's relationship, Rachel continued her glare out the window and it was extremely hard for her to not burst out in song and sing along to the radio. It was tempting but she had to contain her inner Diva.

"Hello! Is it me you're looking for? I can see it in your eyes, I can see in your smile. You're all I've ever wanted and my arms are open wide. Because you know just what to say and you know just what to do  
>And I want to tell you so much. I love you" Rachel caved in as she unfolded her arms and out her hand on her stomach as she sung, her free hand flipping Jesse the bird<p>

"I have to keep my eyes on the road, therefor I cannot pay attention to your obscene gestures. Be lucky my windows are tinted, because there could be some angry guy behind us thinking you're flipping HIM off and I personally am not in the mood for a fender bender." Jesse said over the music, which he then proceeded to turn down.

Squinting his eyes to see the street signs ahead of them, Jesse turned to Rachel briefly, saying, "Hey, do you even know where we are going? Because gas is running on empty here. Odd, though. I could have sworn I fueled up this morning". As of now, he was doubting his own direction skills as much as he was his car's ability to perform simple functions. "I'm just pulling over, because this is irritating, and I don't do well under such situations" he said to nobody in particular as he pulled over the grey car onto the side of the highway. He whipped out his smartphone, attempting to decipher the directions with some help from 'Apple Maps'.

"Stay here. Please do not drive off or vandalize my vehicle in any way shape or form. /Please/" he said sternly, yet almost begging, for her knew Rachel was both capable and willing of doing such things.

He stepped out of the car, calling his agent to inform him that both he and Rachel would be late to the event due to "traffic", as Jesse didn't want to admit to his own mishap.

"It's your job to get the directions, not mine. So why are you asking me as to where our destination is when you are the one that insisted that we take your car when I had my driver all ready to go, but you insisted that your car would do the job perfectly fine and we could do the driver on the way home. This is exactly why I wanted to go alone, and you go by yourself." the brunette stuck out her lips as she watched him pull over, almost certain that he would demand she get out and walk there instead, but what he said next made her want to scream and cry at the same time. This was possibly the worst night of her life and it hadn't officially started.

This was her night to shine and he was holding her back, literally holding her back from being someone in this world that she calls sanity, and for what reason? Because he forgot to put gas in his car although she warned him once he told her that it would be fine, and did he listen to her? No. Of course not, he was as much as a diva then sh\e was.

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you." Rachel got out of the car, slamming the door behind her as she followed him out of it, her temper rising as she watched him go on his phone, her own buzzing in her bra as, most likely her manager calling her.

Instead of following him and ripping his phone out of his ear, like she had planned to, Rachel stood out by the road putting her thumb out in hopes that someone would stop and let her in their car. "I refuse to be late because of your poor planning and disrespectful ways towards woman by not telling them that they're pretty! The car breaking down is Karma!" Rachel called out as she silently prayed that no one would actually stop.

"Ill call you back." Jesse said, quickly pressing the 'end call' button and putting his phone in his pocket. When she said those words, those 6 words, "...not telling them they're pretty!", truly destroyed him. If there was one thing, and one thing only that Jesse never wanted Rachel to feel, it was that she wasn't beautiful, inside and out. In all honesty, before Jesse had met Rachel, he hadn't seen a more stunning woman. When he walked into the music store, expecting this all to be a trick, something sparked in him, and that was a spark that never grew dim. He longed for the day when Rachel felt as beautiful as he saw her to be. If there was one thing the young curly-headed boy learned when briefly dating Rachel is that despite her outward confidence, she was truly very sensitive.

Running over the caramel-skinned brunette, he turned her around by her shoulders and said with a breathy tone,

"Rachel, y-you are absolutely stunning." he said, for the first time in forever stuttering with his words.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever, /ever/ seen. Bar none. Look at me. Please, just listen. I have done so, so much wrong by you. But never once did I ever stop seeing you in this beautiful light. I am so, so sorry. More than you will ever know." he said, the words flying directly from his heart and off of his tongue. His heart being in command, Jesse did something that never once in his right mind would he have done. Slowly, gently, he took Rachel's cheeks in his palms, and kissed her.


End file.
